So far they have 122 so they're 78 away from it. the Chinese order could still happen. The ban is on any contracts where aircraft will be delivered in 2005 above and beyond those already approved. It doesn't effect 2006 deliveries and beyond or contracts that are presently in negotiation.

I was talking to a maintenance guy for RAM, and said that they are contemplating 7E7 as it fits their profile, B777 too big for them, B763ER too small, so the surprise order could come from RAM as they were talikng about an A330, and recently Morocco and USA signed a free trade agreement, you never know what's cooking?

I think boeing was depending on the chines order to be completed before year end. So I would say it's impossible now.

Yeah the China order was probably the critical mass Boeing was counting on to push the 200 threshold. In any event, the December orders and two blue-chip customers means that Boeing's claim that early delivery slots were going fast wasn't that inappropriate.

Boeing now has three very well-respected international carriers (ANA, JAL, CO), a small order from another respected airline (Air NZ), and three LCC/Charter carriers. Not a bad start IMO....

There's not much of 2004 left, but officials at aerospace giant Boeing Co. said Thursday they weren't giving up on a goal of securing 200 orders for the planned new 7E7 jetliner by the end of the year.

"We haven't backed off from that goal," spokeswoman Susan Bradley said Thursday from the company's Seattle offices, where its commercial airplanes operation is based.

Seriously though, the Chinese weren't even planning on buying more than 50. That leaves 18 AFTER the Chinese order. If they were to get 200 they would need 2 orders (the Chinese and another one). Who knows what Boeing's got up their sleeve though.

You can't build a reputation upon what you are GOING to do, but rather upon what you HAVE done!

I think that with the actual sales of the Boeing 7E7 they must be very happy, archeiving 60%(122 units)+ porcentage of sales compare to the objective which was 200(100%) planes in less than one year of a new product is very difficult, I must say, Congrats Boeing !!!!

Seriously though, the Chinese weren't even planning on buying more than 50

The original China order was to be split over several airlines totaling 70+ plus options. If China is still going to squeeze their order in on December 31, I doubt it will be on the scale they planned in August, but who knows...

Who knows what Boeing's got up their sleeve though.

Indeed.... I heard the first wiff of a JAL order about 12 hours before Boeing announced it, and heard nothing of an impending CO order. The Boeing sales team can obviously keep a secret if they so chose

In my disgustingly cynical opinion, i present the reason the announcements have been so unexpected other the last few days....

"Oh Mr JL, pretty pretty please announce your commitment to the 7e7 before new year, you were never going to buy an Airbus anyway and it'll save us from public embarrassment and plummeting share prices, we'll make it worth your while."

"Oh Mr CO, pretty pretty please announce your commitment to the 7e7 before new year, you were never going to buy an Airbus anyway and it'll save us from public embarrassment and plummeting share prices, we'll make it worth your while."

So who else fits the criteria AA, DL, they could 'order' tomorrow I guess.

I cannot deny they have done well with the number of orders they have currently though.

Well, if SQ or Chinese carriers have made up their mind and went ahead with order, we'll hear about it in a few hours as it is early morning there right now. If somehow, someway KLM and Northwest decided to go for the join order and Delta and American somehow, someway found some ca$h to buy them, it might still happen. Right now it's a 50/50 chance. If we will not hear about a big Asian order in next 6 to 12 hours, then it will not happen and Boeing will say bye-bye to whoever came up with that imho stupid PR stunt.

Now get your f***ing Jumbo Jet off my airport!!! - AC/DC "Ain't No Fun To Be a Millionaire"

I hear Northwest will DEFINETELY not order the 717... Reason is this...

The DC9 is usually flown by the older guys... 40-50 yrs. When these guys retire, so does their bird... The new guys are being trained on the Airbus, so that when the older guys retire, and the 9s retire, the new guys will then be the Older guys flying their A320s, ETC... More like a process of elimination... The new guys on the new planes, when they retire, their birds retire as well.. The captain of Flt. 967 on 7/17/04 I believe retired when 9152 was retired (He had to have been pushing 60)

I guess Airbus spoilt the party for Boeing by throwing in the A-350 quite unexpectedly. Some airlines which were likely to be an early customer for the 7E7, like KLM/NW and Singapore for instance, have waited and are now comparing the A-350 specifications and performance.

"If we will not hear about a big Asian order in next 6 to 12 hours, then it will not happen and Boeing will say bye-bye to whoever came up with that imho stupid PR stunt."

HIGHLY unlikely they'll meet the goal of even 200 provisional committments, never mind the firm orders the sales and marketing yahoos predicted, in the next day. However, I don't think any of those guys will be sacked because of it. The A350 was indeed an unexpected wild card thrown into the foray that has muddied the waters and slowed 7E7 potentials from signing on by the hoped for target date. That doesn't mean BCA has lost many of these sales, just that it won't gain them as quickly as it had hoped because they must first take the prudent step of evaluating a previously unanticipated competitor. Setting that goal may have been a stupid PR stunt but that's what sales and marketing guys do. It's not really their fault the A350 showed up. What 7E7 committments they have already are quite impressive and it should not be too long into the new year before they do hit that number in both firm and MOUs, the latter of which should firm up within a few months. No big deal they couldn't meet that admittedly rather unrealistic goal.

Maybe they put the 200 order out there to force Airbus's panicked hand so that they know what they're up against instead of having to wait. There's alot more that goes into the decision for a publicly listed company making that kind of announcement. They either have/had the orders and/or are playing a cat & mouse game with their competitor to draw them out.

Maybe they put the 200 order out there to force Airbus's panicked hand so that they know what they're up against instead of having to wait

It was more of a case of regaining some credibility in the PR department after someone* blurted out 200 orders. It was not impossible, but the SQ order set them back from the start and along with the absence of a Chinese Order. Basically, the bet the house and lost 1/3 of it... However if they did pull it off, it would have been a fantastic blow to the A350 program...

I guess Airbus spoilt the party for Boeing by throwing in the A-350 quite unexpectedly. Some airlines which were likely to be an early customer for the 7E7, like KLM/NW and Singapore for instance, have waited and are now comparing the A-350 specifications and performance.

Boeing did realise that Airbus will counter the 7E7, but they only didn't know exactly when. So, Boeing set out to gain as many orders as soon as possible before any murmurs on the A350 at Airbus began. They are still in discussions with dozens of airlines, and before the deals were closed Airbus jumped out of the box proclaiming the A350...So a whole new dimension was added to the foray...

Now you're really flying

25 CRPilot
: "Maybe they put the 200 order out there to force Airbus's panicked hand so that they know what they're up against instead of having to wait" Unlikely,